Not really my cup of tea. I'd like to see a broader choice of colors - something in a dark blue or a gunmetal would be nice.

I have said it probably too many times, but having lived with our sand colored Roadtrek, which is still lighter than many other colors, I can't understand getting a dark color if you are going to be anyplace even slightly warm and sunny (which to us is part of what we want in the winter). We painted our roof in highly reflective silver sparkle and it keeps the interior much cooler, just wish the whole van was that reflective, or bright white. Practicality over appearance for us, if we did it again.

Not really my cup of tea. I'd like to see a broader choice of colors - something in a dark blue or a gunmetal would be nice.

I have said it probably too many times, but having lived with our sand colored Roadtrek, which is still lighter than many other colors, I can't understand getting a dark color if you are going to be anyplace even slightly warm and sunny (which to us is part of what we want in the winter). We painted our roof in highly reflective silver sparkle and it keeps the interior much cooler, just wish the whole van was that reflective, or bright white. Practicality over appearance for us, if we did it again.

Booster-ihave read inmany places about colored vehicles being hotter-but is it actually true or one of those accepted fallacies.

It's not and has been proven in studies. That doesn't stop people that think it does. Or RV manufacturers, including Airstream, from painting their roofs white.

From all the true physics information I have seen and the testing I have done on our van, it is absolutely true. We see almost 20*F difference between the silver and sand on our van, and another 20*F when going to the dark charcoal on the bottom. This test done in the same sun, same angle to the surface, in the same ambient, same time. If you don't believe, just put a white and black car side by side in the sun for a while and then put your hands on the hoods.

Our stucco house, that was dull blue grey got so hot in the sun that you literally couldn't put your hand on it and hold it there. We painted the house a very light creme color, and now you can lay your hand on it all day if you wanted. Our air conditioning bill dropped nearly 20%.

Based on everything I have seen, it is positively true. What have you seen that proves it is not.

Temperature of the surface of metal skin of the vehicle doesn't necessarily transfer to the interior of the vehicle.

It would be like saying that a white car will only get to 120 degrees inside and a black car will get to 150 degrees. They both will top out at the same internal temp, albeit a miserable 120 degrees. In a vehicle's case, you are only talking about a thin metal skin, and likely, insulation underneath.

A building is slightly different. The mass of the materials is much greater. An asphalt roof is a lot more heated mass than a thin metal skin roof. I doubt it makes much difference what color a metal skin roof is. Asphalt shingles are marginally different between jet black and gray. The thickness of the shingles, however may make a difference as the mass of the material is different, so the amount of heat transferred is greater.

Temperature of the surface of metal skin of the vehicle doesn't necessarily transfer to the interior of the vehicle.

Take a look at the thermal transmission formula for any substance, including insulated areas. Delta T is always in the equation, so hotter outside means more transferred to the inside, insulated or not. Nobody leaves and RV sitting totally closed up in the sun, if they are trying to be in it, so heat is escaping via openings like vents or windows, or air conditioning. Your steady state temp is based on heat in vs heat out, so higher heat in do to the higher delta T will give a higher steady state temperature with the same heat being exhausted. Using a closed car is one of the worst examples to use because of the large amount of glass area vs painted, and leaving it closed up will probably actually get enough solar through the windows to make the heat be going out of the painted surfaces. Even so, the closed car will steady state when the solar through the windows heats up the inside enough to be hotter than the outside surfaces. Once that delta T gets big enough to get rid of the amount of heat going in the windows, the car will stop heating up, not before that. Vans just ain't the same thingg.

It would be like saying that a white car will only get to 120 degrees inside and a black car will get to 150 degrees. They both will top out at the same internal temp, albeit a miserable 120 degrees. In a vehicle's case, you are only talking about a thin metal skin, and likely, insulation underneath.

Most likely, the black car will get hotter, probably significantly, see the explanation above, especially if the there is any heat going out, due to an open window or sunroof, because the high delta T of the color will be putting in more heat than the lighter color. Do you ever sit in your car with all the windows shut when it is hot and sunny? If not, then it is not a real world example anyway. The point of it being only a thin metal skin, maybe with insulation, makes no difference, heat transfer formula will still work the same. I miss your point

A building is slightly different. The mass of the materials is much greater. An asphalt roof is a lot more heated mass than a thin metal skin roof. I doubt it makes much difference what color a metal skin roof is. Asphalt shingles are marginally different between jet black and gray. The thickness of the shingles, however may make a difference as the mass of the material is different, so the amount of heat transferred is greater.

If you do some reading on attic temp gain due to solar absorption through the roofing, you will find that they say that white or aluminum colored metal roofing can significantly reduce attic temps, with all other things being equal, when compared to other materials and colors. Thermal mass only can delay heating of the cool side, not make it less, if it has the same delta T and heat transmission coefficient, so it not an issue if you are talking about color.

I would still like to see the scientific studies that say dark colors don't absorb more solar energy, and make for hotter interior areas.